Should you have any thought of creating an apple orchard and making craft cider to sell, your first year’s efforts are likely to run $27,755. That’s what Andy Brennan, who co-owns Aaron Burr Cider in Wurtsboro, N.Y., calculated in his biographical book on the subject. What’s most interesting about this very readable volume is how he got started by foraging apples in the Catskills. He explains the wild apple, how cider is made and compares step-by-step cidermaking with conventionally grown (commercial) apples, natural (untreated) apples and noncultivated (wild fruit). Along the way there’s a history of apples, especially in colonial America.
“Uncultivated: Wild Apples, Real Cider, and the Complicated Art of Making a Living” by Andy Brennan (Chelsea Green, $24.95).
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